Tinubu’s constant foreign trips worry Nigerians

President Bola Tinubu constant foreign travels, most times for unexplained reasons, have become a subject of anxiety and concern by a significant number of Nigerians, who believe that the present conditions in the economy and country do not permit such luxury given the sufferings of the people.

This comes in the wake of the recent travel of President to an undisclosed country(s) for over a fortnight before his Abu Dhabi summit on Sustainable development on January 12-15, which left most Nigerians suspicious, and indeed, scandalized by off-handed and ignominious regard of the people.

In a very ambiguous and open-ended press statement, presidential spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, had informed Nigerians that the president had “departed the country for Europe from where he would proceed to UAE on the invitation of the prime minister for five day summit.” There was no mention of the country(s) where he would visit for over two weeks before the Sbu Dhabi event.

From indications, it appears that the president had spent more days abroad in 2024 and 2025 than he did in governance in Nigeria, which they believed, has made him to lose focus in governing the country, given the myriad of problems facing the country crying for attention and solutions, such as insecurity and economic crisis with no end in sight.

By constantly leaving Nigeria, he is now

being described by some people as a f”lying  president,” without caring  about the economic cost of such randomly frequent trips that have become a play back of the situation under late president Buhari, who was constantly out of the country on medical tourism while the country burned.

Burden of Absentee President

It was calculated that President Tinubu, who never spent two months at a stretch at home without jetting out,  as at November 2025, had made over 46 trips abroad,  which amounted to a cumulative period of 192 days, more than half a year.

The break down of days abroad within the same period from 2023 to 2025 showed that in 2023, he spent 60 days, from May 29, when he assumed office; in 2024, 84 days, and 46 days in 2025, and a total amount of N64 billion on both foreign and local trips between June 2023 and March 2024 alone.

It was also revealed that the alleged reckless spending on foreign trips cost Nigeria  foreign currencies N23 billion in 2024 alone, a rise of N18.63billion from what was spent in 2023, which  was an increase  of 23 percent, which critics  say was rather too high for trips said to have brought no tangible results to Nigeria  arguing, that there was no rationale for the presidency’s expenditures  on the trips.

His travelling  abroad was compared to that of the immediate  late Buhari, who was said to have  first spent 50 days in London in 2017 in one occasion on medical leave. He went back in May of the same year for a check up, which made his absent  from office to be 104 days and by 2021 it was recorded  that he had  spent 200 days in UK on medical trip.

Former  presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan were  said to have been different. Although, they too travelled abroad  during their tenures,  theirs were  not as excessive  as that of the present President Tinubu and his predecessor  Buhari

Former presidents were prudent about travelling abroad and at a time  Jonathan wanted to enforce a law banning government officials from travelling overseas for medical treatments, a common excuse for such foreign trips by leaders.

Yar’Adua’s Compassionate case

However the case of the late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua  was treated with compassion in view of the circumstances, which made him spend more time abroad, not for any other  reasons but for his health crisis.

He travelled to Saudi Arabia in November 2009 for medical treatment of pericarditis.

What Nigerian found unpleasant about his matter was that his trip  and conditions of health  were kept under wrap by his aides and family. This later caused confusion in the polity, which was, eventually  resolved  before  he later died through the “Doctrine of Necessity principle,” which allowed power to be transmitted to vice president Jonathan, as the president had become incapacitated and unable to do so physically himself.

Although,  most of Tinubu’s  trips were claimed  to be official, except the few ones declared for medical check-ups, critics of the government were skeptical as they believed that the officials  trips were just a cover-up for  trips secretly linked to Tinubu’s  health issues, while  his aides believe that using “official trip’ would mask the need to disclose his medical status and his treatment in between  his official trips.

Although, Nigerians had only grumbled silently about his travels, however, there was a loud protest over the last one because of the apparent deception and attempt to hide the truth from Nigerians, who have suddenly found their voices once again and attacked the president and his minders, who took the patience and goodwill of Nigerians for granted.

Nigerian were only grumbling and never came out to launch a serious attack on him, thinking that his trips might be effective but when the effects were not showing as expected, they are now more or less suspecting that those trips were  either for his own personal  investments and  as well medical.

Budgetary Allocations for 2026

What actually got tongues wagging in the last few weeks, is  the 2026 budget in which huge amount of money  was budgeted  on  foreign  trips  for  President Tinubu and his vice,  Kashim Shettima.

In the proposed 2026 Appropriation Bill, Tinubu and Shettima are allocated over N9.3 billion for combined local and foreign travel, including refreshments. The major highlights  of the amount was targeted  and focused significantly  on international engagements.

While Tinubu’s travel budget for  2026 would gulp a total of N7.01 billion, foreign trips take a larger share of  N6,140,709,822 with the local trips coming to N873,886,689, while refreshments/food take its own share of N431 million.

Shetima takes a total  travel budget of N1.73 billion in 2026 with him  as well having lager chunk  of it on foreign Trips, which amounts to  N1,314,618,239, while his own local trip would gulp N417,488,198 and refreshments/food takes N186 million.

The argument, therefore, is that the Presidency is not  sensitive to the plights of Nigerians,  in view of  various challenges they face, and  wonder why this kind of  money,  which forms  part of the broader 2026 expenditure, should be  proposed and allocated for travels alone.

What is also worrisome to many Nigerians is the attitudes of Nigerian leaders, who now make foreign trips their priority, as if it is a normal way of life for them when they get into office.

Official Explanations

According to the Presidency, Tinubu’s 36 foreign trips have attracted $50 billion FDI, strengthened diplomacy and boosted Nigeria’s global profile.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye, made the disclosure recently, on the  assessments of the President’s foreign policy achievements. He stated that Tinubu foreign  trips  since his inauguration on May 29, 2023, cut across  countries  in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

According to Enikanolaye, these diplomatic efforts have not only raised Nigeria’s profile globally but have also translated into tangible economic gains while there were investments attracted through these foreign engagements.

These, he said, included commitments from Sunil Bharti, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Indorama, Jindal Steel, Coca-Cola, Apple, Maersk, Arise, Shell, Afreximbank, companies from the Netherlands, and a waste-to-wealth industrial facility in Lagos.

The President’s  aide condemned  the criticism over the president’s frequent international trips, saying, such engagements were pivotal to national development and global positioning. “What remained was for the outcomes of the foreign trips to be fully implemented to positively impact the lives of Nigerians.”

“It is, therefore, ludicrous for anyone to criticise the participation of Mr. President at various international engagements, whether statutory or invitational.

Also in his  reaction, Yusuf Tuggar Foreign Affairs Minister, believed that the  opportunities  derives from Tinubu’s  visits are already  yielding results  in terms of trade  investments and diplomatic  gains. He said Nigeria has diversified  export to Japan, which stands at $1 billion  annually and driven largely by hydrocarbons.

Words Without Results

Sceptics argue that these, like the regime’s other promises, remain empty words without anything tangible to show for it. For instance, the much tauted Bharti of India multi billion investment has not materialized like several other ones as a result of domestic issues such as insecurity, which the government has been unable to tackle, and no investor is likely to come into a country already designated a “Country of Particular Concern,” by the U.S.Aldo, there are issues and challenges of poor infrastructure l, such as power, roads, and insecurity, which makes the country hostile and unsafe for business that no number of foreign trips for investment can solve.

This makes a lie President  Tinubu’s

New Year 2026  broadcast, where he  said, “On every foreign trip I have embarked on, my message to investors and other business people has been the same: Nigeria is ready and open for business.” But there is no investor honoring the open invitation.

Making reference  to the tenure of Tinubu’s predecessor, it argued that In the first 18 months of Buhari’s first term, he embarked on 36 foreign trips to 25 countries.

“However, in the same period of his second term, this number dropped significantly to 17 trips to 15 countries. The decline coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted global travel and likely contributed to the fewer trips recorded in 2020.”

“A closer look at the capital importation trends during both presidencies raises further questions about the effectiveness of these trips in fostering foreign investment. While these engagements often serve diplomatic purposes, the critical issue remains whether they yield measurable economic benefits for the country,” opposition parties queried.

An analysis of capital importation into Nigeria – an economic indicator that measures the inflow of foreign investments into a country for business and economic purposes shows an increase in capital importation in Nigeria between Q3 2023 when Tinubu became president and Q2 2024.

Also Between Q3 2023 and Q2 2024, total capital importation from 12 out of the 19 countries he visited tripled, increasing from $412 million to $2.2 billion. These countries include the United Kingdom, Netherlands, South Africa, United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi & Dubai), United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, China, France, India and Ghana.

While the inflow of capital importation into the country shows an overall increase between Tinubu’s assumption of office and Q2 2024, the correlation between his international trips and the movement of capital importation during this period reveals a weak negative relationship, measured at -16.02%. This indicates that, thus far, Tinubu’s foreign engagements are not significantly linked to a rise in foreign capital inflows.

Opposition Parties React

The Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, the New Nigerian People’s Party and the Coalition for United Political Parties have criticized Tinubu for not  strengthening Nigeria’s health care system and the economy.

The parties in separate interviews with  a National Daily, in Nigeria, alleged that Tinubu’s numerous foreign trips are as a result of his state of health.

In his reaction, the PDP Deputy Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, lamented that taxpayers’ money is being wasted on unnecessary trips, adding that the Tinubu administration has failed to provide good governance.

“I think the president’s frequent trips are highly insensitive, and they show a lack of faith in our national health care system because the reason he is travelling is for medical tourism.

“Imagine the billions of naira that will be spent as estacodes and used in paying frivolous charges that those foreign hospitals might have given to him, as well as the travel expenses for him, his caregivers, and the hangers-on that will have gone on this trip. Imagine the state of our local health facilities in this country.”

The CUPP National Publicity Secretary, Mark Adebayo, also criticized Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, describing them as wasteful.

Adebayo in an interview  also with a National Daily said “The fundamental thing here that everybody must know is that we shouldn’t be surprised that the president is behaving that way. why?

Because the president never contested for the presidency of Nigeria to govern Nigeria in the interest of Nigeria. He just said it was his lifetime ambition. So, it was a contest about his own personal ambition. It’s not about the welfare of Nigeria. We should not deceive ourselves.

“And that is why insecurity is worsening, that is why hunger in the land is burgeoning, and that is why the anger of Nigerians, you know, is spreading. So, the man doesn’t care about Nigeria or Nigerians. So, he can best be described as a president in absentia. We should not sugarcoat anything.”

The Labour Party’s National Legal Adviser, Kehinde Edun, berated the president, saying he has failed to convince Nigerians that he is the “father of the nation” as he claims.

He said, “It shows that the government lacks the capacity to deal with the situation we have on our hands. The situation is tense. We have problems everywhere. But it’s like the president is always seeking ways to escape. At every slightest opportunity, he always wants to escape. We have not really seen him sitting down and working. It’s unfortunate that we are where we are.”

Former LP presidential  campaign spokesman and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, called on journalists  to  investigate

Tinubu’s repeated travels to France.

“He has gone to France more than 10 times if I’m not mistaken.

The NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, asked president Tinubu to stop his frequent foreign trips.

“I think we should just keep watching because we are tired and fed up of talking about it. They don’t even listen to anybody and would not do what ought to be done.”

A legal practitioner and political analyst, Liborous Oshoma, expressed concern over President Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips, urging him to cut down on his travel schedule and pay closer attention to Nigeria’s economic and security challenges.

“When President Tinubu was governor of Lagos State, people called him a globetrotter. Now, as president, the same description applies.”